A driver of the Lagos State Bus Rapid Transport, Andrew Nice Omininikoron, standing trial over the alleged murder of his passenger, Oluwabamise Ayanwola, has opened his defence in the state high court at Tafawa Balewa Square annex.
The defendant, who was led in his testimony by his counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, told Justice Sherifat Shonaike that he didn’t rape or kill Miss Ayanwola, as accused.
He said it was three male passengers, who boarded his bus after official hours, that raped her and threw her off the vehicle.
Omininikoron was arraigned in March 2022 on four counts bordering on alleged rape, conspiracy and murder of the 22-year-old lady on February 26, 2022, on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway.
He was said to have conspired with others now at large and forcefully had sexual intercourse with the fashion designer after which they murdered her.
But while giving his testimony, he told the court that he illegally picked up Bamise at the Chevron bus stop on a return trip to Oshodi after he had off-loaded passengers on the Oshodi-Ajah route at around 8pm that day.
“I resumed at our Oshodi office that day on the afternoon shift. I loaded my bus with passengers going to Ajah. On getting to Ajah, I offloaded the passengers and took a return trip with another set of passengers to Oshodi, offloaded them and then loaded another round to Ajah. It was around 8pm, by then, I am not permitted to load any more passengers to Oshodi. But we normally pick passengers after 8pm and tell them the cowry machine is not working, so that they can pay the bus fare in cash and we will keep the money for ourselves.
“Our salary is not enough, they promised us N120,000 monthly, but we are paid N71,000. Whenever we load passengers after official hours, we usually have them sit at the back and dim the bright lights in the bus so that the surveillance cameras on our routes cannot spot them.”
He added that shortly after Bamise boarded his bus, he picked up three more passengers—all males—at Agungi bus stop.
The driver said around Osbourne under bridge, one of the men walked up to him at the driver’s seat and pointed a gun at him, ordering him to cooperate with them. He said he had never seen them before and could only recognise the man who pointed a gun at him.
“The driver’s seat usually has a glass around the driver, like a room to one’s self, but the bus I drove that day had no door. I was heading towards Third Mainland Bridge but they ordered me to drive to Carter bridge.
“The three men dragged her down, she was shouting for help and they raped her. They pushed her off the bus and alighted afterwards while I continued on my trip. On getting to Oshodi, I parked the bus and went home. That day was a Saturday, I was off duty the next day.
“On Monday, I was going to work when my MD called me to see my depot manager (Mr Ola) at Oshodi. When I got there, I was told not to drive any bus but to wait. While waiting, a colleague asked me why I picked up a passenger illegally, as she has now gone missing. When I heard that, I was afraid and fled because I know my employers will not take it easy with me. My MD used to say that he will spend N1 million to deal with anyone who stole N100 from him. Picking passengers illegally amounts to stealing from the company.”
The defendant told the court further that he fled to Ososa in Ogun State to stay with his friend (Hope), adding that he was arrested there by DSS officials arrested.
When he was asked if he was aware the deceased was sending voice notes to her friend that night expressing her misgivings about the other passengers on the bus, he said he didn’t know.
During police interrogation at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, the defendant alleged that he was tortured by the officers and that they refused to give him water when he told them he was thirsty.
He added that he couldn’t write his statements because he was weak from the beatings he received.
The defendant also denied sexually assaulting two other women (names withheld) on his bus at different intervals before the alleged incident with Bamise and that he wasn’t questioned about the women.
He however said he dated one of them, but broke up with her because she was always asking him for money.
While adjourning at the request of his counsel for further examination-in-chief of the defendant till Monday, October 21, Justice Sonaike strongly expressed displeasure at the slow pace of the case.
The court said the frequent adjournment in the trial had been at the instance of the defence counsel and that the last hearing was on February 15, 2024.
The Director of Public Prosecutions at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Babajide Martins, in his response to Omotubora’s request for adjournment, said he had received a query by the Attorney General of the state over the case, as the Prosecution had closed its case since November 2023.